In the devotional reading for today we take a look at the Olivet Discourse, a message that Jesus delivered to His disciples on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem on Monday afternoon of Passion Week.

The Lord had just told those there in attendance for this profound prophetic conference, with Jesus as the teacher, that the "generation" which saw the signs discussed in Matthew 24:4-15 would be the ones that would usher in the Kingdom, at the Second Coming of Jesus.

As the Lord was concluding this discourse He mentioned a very specific sign for people to look for as they awaited His Second Coming. Jesus mentioned in verse 37, "as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be."

By the way, this passage is speaking of the Second Coming, not the Rapture of the Church in the context of future events, Matthew 24:3.

Remember, in the "Days of Noah" the "ones taken", verses 40-41, were those who were taken to judgment, they drown in the flood. It was Noah and his wife, his three sons and their wives, that were left.

The Lord also exhorted those awaiting the Second Coming to be working during the time before so that when the Lord does come back the Lord's servants would be blessed, verse 46.

This statement, "technically interpreted", is for those awaiting the Second Coming; however, it has a "spiritual application" for those of us who are Christians awaiting the Rapture. We need to be found faithful, working, in the Lord's work when the Rapture happens. There is a great significance to the Lord's statement about, the "Days of Noah".

Jesus had finished giving general "signs" and then He became very specific. The truth be known, there were three "Days of Noah"; the days before the flood, Genesis 4-6; the days during the flood, Genesis 6,7 and 8; and the days after the flood, Genesis 9, 10 and 11.

Verse 37 can be a stand-alone verse, because of the next verse, verse 38, which specifies the "days before the flood". The verse reads, "For as in the days that were before".

As we consider the "Days of Noah" after the flood, Genesis 10 and 11, describe Noah's great grandson, Nimrod, 10:8-10 and 11:4, as the world leader who went to Babel, today's Babylon or modern-day Iraq, to build a "great city" and a "great religion".

This was a rebellion against God's directive to Noah, Genesis 9:1, to "re-people" the earth after the worldwide flood. The "one world government", with a "one world leader", Nimrod, 4,500 years ago, and a "one world religion" in Nimrod's day, these are both prototypes of the one world religion and the one world government in Revelation 17 and 18, respectively.

The Lord's warning about the "Days of Noah" has present-day significance because in Noah's day the focus of the world was on Babylon and today the world's focus is also on Babylon, modern day Iraq.

The current world situation seems to be set for the Lord's return, His Second Coming. The Lord's exhortation, as revealed in verse 44, is to be "ready". There is also the exhortation in verse 42, to "watch". These both are pertaining to His Second Coming.

However, the "spiritual application" is excellent for us who are to "watch", and be "ready", for the Rapture, which could happen today.

PRAYER THOT: Help me to live today, Lord, as if this is the day the Rapture will happen.